Sun Mote Copse Steal from the rich, give to myself.

Sorry for the double tap, I revised and re-posted. :)

Towhee was still vibrating with some strange, wild vigor and putting it to good use. She rose with the sun and headed straight for the borders. When she wrapped her patrol an hour later, she was humming under her breath without realizing it. Normally, she might have gone for a meal or a nap (maybe both), though she was neither hungry nor tired. Instead, she decided to try her hand at some small game hunting.

Although she spent the entire afternoon at it only to come up empty-handed, Towhee hardly minded. She still felt downright effervescent. Even as the sun slipped behind the western horizon, she suddenly leaped forward, breaking into a heart-pumping gallop that delivered her promptly to the territory's farthest fringes for one last patrol.

It was late when she finished and Towhee knew she should head back to the rendezvous site to sleep. Instead, she suddenly decided to go find @Pippin. Aside from looking in on him to make sure he was on the mend, she hadn't spent a lot of time with him, especially not since the return of her brother and son. She just hoped he wouldn't mind her dropping in on him at this time of night.

Within moments, she was hot on his trail, his scent strong in her nose. "Pippin?" she called, orange eyes scanning the surrounding trees, their bare boughs palely lit by the waxing crescent moon. The skin between her shoulder blades prickled suddenly, a tingle traveling down her spine, so she paused to let the strange sensations pass.

Pippin was undecided to make of his new home. The stiffness in his joints stemmed further than the attack from the cat and the healing scars that adorned his flanks—the starvation from prior days wore at him still and he decidedly hated feeling useless.

It didn’t help his soured mood at how unfamiliar he was with the pack and land.

For as dark as his stormy mood was, Towhee was a small beacon—decidedly the only familiar face he had truly come here for, given Phox had maintained a certain distance in the Grove, as had their kids.

Moon cast before him, his sharp eyes cast upon the lightened path before him as he wove forward, trying to keep from settling for too long, keeping the stiffness of his injuries at bay for the moment.

His lumbering gait gave pause as he heard his name, his muzzle swinging to the direction of the crimson tipped fireball and he gave her a studious stare, waiting for her to catch up to him. “Hey,” he rumbled, his tail giving an idle flick.

She saw his eyes floating in the dark, attached to the faint outline of his pale, sandy figure, leaner than she liked to see but certainly familiar. Towhee moved toward him, the queer prickling at the nape of her neck forgotten, at least until it happened again once she reached Pippin. It was even intenser this second time and, though Towhee couldn't explain why, she also didn't really question it when the sensation prompted her to reach out and touch her muzzle to Pippin's with an intimacy that didn't quite belong to them.

Towhee caught herself and withdrew, though she smiled at her own forward behavior. "Have I told you how glad I am you're here, even if you yelled at me when you got here? At least, I think you yelled at me." He'd certainly sworn. She huffed a laugh, then continued. "I didn't know you cared so much. But the feeling's mutual." In for a penny, in for a pound. "How're you feeling, anyhow?"

He was still—statuesque as she closed the distance between them and his eyes followed her movement. He had never considered it before—not that he didn’t consider Towhee attractive because he certainly did—but her movements were fluid. Sinuous, almost. Her muzzle reached out to graze his own, and the Ostrega remained rooted to the spot, his mind dumbing down even more than usual at that very moment… if that was even possible.

So he chose to ignore it, playing it off that she was simply grateful he had found them.

Fucking right I yelled, he wanted to say. Instead, he chose to not bring about her ire and dredge up past mistakes. He still didn’t know why she had scaled the rocks without care or thought to what could happen. “Yeah,” he chuffed finally, his tongue sliding over his lips as he continued to look at her, knowing she needed his lips to read what he was saying. One day, he would need to learn her language. It would make things a hell of a lot easier.

He didn’t know what else to say to that. He had always been drawn to the dark girl… Finding it easy to talk to her—casual, and laid back. He wasn’t one to settle within a pack, but his friendship with her made him want to. And so here he was.

“I’m okay. Mending.” He paused, his eyes sweeping over her. “What about you?” He found himself having to resist following after her touch—and so it was easier to deflect.

He didn't seem to mind her touches, though he didn't return them in kind, and Towhee felt a strange sort of dismay at that. She realized she craved proximity with him. But that realization made her stop short. That wasn't really her style. What had gotten into her? Yet, she couldn't seem to stop herself, especially not after the way his eyes raked over her figure, clearly appreciative.

"I'm fantastic," she replied, with no trace of sarcasm whatsoever. It was true. "Having Phox and Fig back here is the cherry on top of an an already delicious cake." Did that metaphor track here? Towhee wondered a moment, then dismissed the thought entirely. "I miss the others and worry about them. But I'm so grateful for those who made it here." Towhee reached out again, bumping her muzzle against Pippin's and giving his snout a little lick this time.

And then, out of nowhere, Towhee found herself wondering, "If I wanted to cash that check we talked about, would you be in any kind of shape right now?" The mere thought sent a third tingle down her spine, followed by a flash of heat over her entire body. She truly didn't know what was coming over her but then, she didn't stop to question it. She rolled with it, orange eyes burning into Pippin's face, lingering on his mouth.

He remained still—looking directly at her, more for the sake of her being able to read his lips when he spoke. She gushed now, about having a cherry on top of a cake, and while he wanted to add in some dirty innuendo, the words were swept from him as she once more grazed her muzzle to his—drawing him to silence once more before he could even speak. This was unlike her. Their relationship never involved touching. Banter, absolutely. But never this, and Pippin found himself navigating what he could see as potentially a minefield.

“You’re awfully chipper today,” he finally did remark, his wolfish brows lifting to reveal his surprise. That was when she asked him about their previous retorts, and his muzzle tipped, understanding finally dawning on him.

He was careful for a select moment, contemplating her request. Chipper, yes. Horny, he assumed. She didn’t smell like previous she-wolves he had come across when they wanted to mate—and so he didn’t see potential danger that lied there.

Typical, he felt he held worldly knowledge when in reality, he knew fuck all. He should have known this was the onset of a storm that was coming.

A slow grin worked its way across his muzzle. Of course he would supply to this demand—it was harmless. “Need some stress relief?”

Not only did she hang on his every word, she also studied his demeanor carefully. When it became clear that he was game, Towhee's insides smoldered pleasantly. But she vehemently shook her head at his question, pressing her nose directly against his.

"Not at all. I just have all this... weirdly happy energy. Why not celebrate it with a bang?" Towhee wiggled her brows, then laughed and retreated just a step or two, to better see his face. "Just for fun," she did think to add, knowing she couldn't promise him anything more than a pleasant roll in the hay.

Well, she supposed she could still offer her friendship. She did hope this wouldn't change anything in the regard, as Towhee rather enjoyed her dynamic with Pippin. Hopefully this would only make things better. They could be friends with benefits, right?

Hesitant upward only until she promised him it was just for fun, Pippin allowed the tension to roll from his shoulders and fall away. Languidly, the Ostrega finally tipped his nose down, smoothing it along the base of her nape where he would nibble, curious about this mood she was in… and none the wiser to any reasoning behind it, other then life was falling back into place for her.

Nudging her toward the nearby brush, the golden-eyed wolf was keen on keeping their interlude more private than most—and he worked at teasing her flanks with sharper nips, eager to see how receptive she truly was. Nothing else really needed to be said, did it?

I figure we can fade here...? :D

Nothing about her disclaimer caused a change in Pippin's willingness, as made evident as he finally touched her properly. This time, Towhee shivered deliciously as the tingles raced up and down her spine, her insides seeming to catch fire. She had never felt like this, not even while in season. That was a different brand of desire altogether: mindless, almost. Her head right now was clear, though, and her heart was light as it skipped in anticipation.

He motioned her toward a screen of brush and Towhee laughed (a decidedly unattractive sound) but didn't protest. She put her mouth by his ear and purled a flirtatious growl, then nibbled her way down his neck, across his overly prominent ribs, past the jut of his hip bone and sank her teeth into the meat of his rump. With a lusty cackle, she then brushed past him, waving her rear in his face as she led him into the brush.

She was as game as her words, giving a feisty gnosh to his rump as she took one step further and took the lead to a more closed-off place.

Pippin was usually a one and done kind of guy—didn’t want to stick around for long, and was pretty keen on ensuring he definitely got his pleasure out of it, like the selfish asshole he could be. Towhee was different though, and he was keen on making sure she wasn’t going to regret taking him up on his previous offer… even if for bragging rights next time she tried to smart mouth him.